The present invention pertains generally to portable devices for the dispensing of lures, specifically odor producing products combined with a device for producing the simulated sounds of wildlife.
Hunters routinely use scents for two distinct purposes. First, certain types of masking scents are desirable to cover the smell of human odor. Masking human odor is important to the success of the hunt in many cases. Alternatively, there are certain particular scents which act as lures to particular species of animals.
A wide range of devices have been developed for the distribution of these scents. U.S. Pat. No. 2,959,354, issued to Beck, discloses a portable deer lure in the form of a container for holding cotton fibers saturated with liquid scent. These types of devices can be improved by supplying a measure of heat to the scent, and as a result, a variety of devices have been developed which utilize a small battery in association with a heat-generating circuit to supply heat to the scent, thereby improving its dispersion. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,431, issued to Jamison.
Also useful to hunters are sound-generating devices capable of producing various sounds which tend to lure desired species in response to a sound or call. While mechanical sound-producing devices have been used in the past, it is now well known to create, store and broadcast an electronic reproduction of sounds of various game animals and birds. These sounds, as digital data, can be conveniently stored in read-only memory devices, often in the form of integrated circuits, which are small, lightweight, and consume very little power.
For these reasons, many hunters are currently equipped with both scent-dispensing devices, as well as separate sonic lures. It is preferable, however, that both the scent-dispensing devices and the sonic lures be positioned at a location remote from the position of the hunter. Ideally, both the scent-dispensing device and the sonic lure should be placed in a target area which, while remote from the hunter, is also visible to the hunter, and within the field of fire and range of the hunter's weapon. The positioning of a scent dispenser in one location, and the operation of a sonic lure by the hunter on his person has not been shown to be particularly effective in attracting and temporarily detaining prey in the hunter's field of fire.
There is a need, therefore, for a combined scent-dispensing system and sonic lure which may be remotely operated by the hunter.
It is an object of this invention to provide a scent-dispensing element and sonic lure element for the purpose of both containment and dispensing of odor-producing compounds for hunting, combined with a remotely operable sonic lure capable of producing simulated wildlife sounds. It is still another object to provide a combined package containing both the sonic and scent lure elements which can be located some distance from the hunter's position, yet remotely operable to minimize the likelihood that the hunter will be detected by his prey.